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Lift Iran Sanctions or Bust

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Steve Kramer
Steve Kramer was born and raised in Atlantic City. He is an opinion journalist and author who made Aliya in
… [More]1991. Prior to that, Steve was in business in New Jersey after graduating from Johns Hopkins University. [Less]

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No matter what Iran says or does, or has done, the U.S. is leading the West to drop its sanctions against Iran, preparing to gather Iran to its bosom, and to welcome it into the comity of nations. Western and Asian political and business leaders are already visiting Iran in droves. A stampede of international corporations to “open up” Iran is currently in progress, even before the sanctions against Iran are lifted.

The White House dismisses the recurrent “Death to America” chant of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei as “rhetoric” intended for a domestic political audience. Rhetoric is the perennial excuse used by many governments to devalue what its enemies repeatedly declare to their publics. This, despite the fact that most Westerners know what Iran’s jihadist government stands for: jihad against the West. As Iran’s Supreme Leader said on Monday, August 17, Iran will remain closed to U.S. influence and continue to oppose U.S. policies in the Middle East, even (perhaps especially) after its nuclear deal with big powers.

IRAN DEFIES UN SANCTIONS

“A ban on developing missiles suited to carrying a nuclear warhead is included in a 2010 Security Council resolution, its fourth – and toughest – imposed on the Islamic Republic for defying council demands that it suspend uranium enrichment and other nuclear activities of potential use in bomb-making.” (reuters.com) May, 2014

News from October 11, 2015:
Iran tested a new precision-guided ballistic missile on Sunday in defiance of a United Nations ban, signaling an apparent advance in Iranian attempts to improve the accuracy of its missile arsenal.
The United Nations also prohibits Iran from undertaking any activity related to ballistic missiles that could deliver a nuclear warhead, which applies to the Emad, but Iranian officials have pledged to ignore the ban.
“We don’t ask permission from anyone to strengthen our defense and missile capabilities,” Dehghan said. (reuters.com)

News from December 2, 2015:
The UN’s atomic watchdog says it believes Iran conducted activities relevant to developing nuclear weapons at least until the end of 2003 but that its activities didn’t go further than planning and basic experiments.
“The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that, before the end of 2003, an organizational structure was in place in Iran suitable for the coordination of a range of activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device.”
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the report showed his country’s nuclear program had no military dimensions. (Radio Free Europe)

News from December 8, 2015:
Iran tested a new medium-range ballistic missile last month in a breach of two U.N. Security Council resolutions, two U.S. officials said on Monday. The officials, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said the test was held on Nov. 21. One of them said the missile traveled within Iranian territory. All ballistic missile tests by Iran are banned under a 2010 Security Council resolution that remains valid until a nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers is implemented.
Under that deal, reached on July 14, most sanctions on Iran will be lifted in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. According to a July 20 resolution endorsing that deal, Iran is still “called upon” to refrain from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for up to eight years.
In October, the United States, Britain, France and Germany called for the Security Council’s Iran sanctions committee to take action over a missile test by Tehran that month that they said violated U.N. sanctions. So far, no action has been taken by the committee. (reuters.com)

Within the span of a few months, Iran has been found guilty of lying about nuclear weapons development and twice testing ballistic missiles which a favored delivery vehicle for atomic weapons, which is and will continue to be prohibited. How can any nation’s leaders put their faith in trusting the Iranians? Evidently, and unfortunately, Western diplomats have no problem doing just that. Apparently, nothing that Iran does will deter the West from rushing headlong into freeing Iran to do its worst.

Breaking news from December 9, 2015:
State Department spokesman John Kirby, on his part, refused to confirm the [Nov. 21] test. “We’re conducting a serious review of this reported incident,” Kirby told reporters. He added, “If the reports are confirmed and if there is a violation of any relevant UN Security Council resolution, then we’re going to take the appropriations actions [via the Security Council].”

Who does the State Department think it’s kidding? The threat from (Shiite) Iran is much greater than that of (Sunni) Islamic State. Iran is a real country, with a strong army, proxy armies on several continents, an elite Republican Guard with total fealty to the government, a strong missile program, and eventually atomic weapons. The Security Council can do nothing serious to stop Iran because it is allied with permanent Security Council member Russia, which has veto power.

Islamic State shares the Iranian dream of a worldwide caliphate, but it is Iran’s worst enemy. Islamic State’s reach is hardly global, except for the ability to foment non-existential terror attacks in various locations. Nevertheless, governments around the world are fixated on Islamic State, much to Iran’s satisfaction.

Does anyone want to take my bet that the U.S. won’t act unilaterally to sanction Iran and won’t get anything from the Security Council? (I fervently hope I’m wrong.)

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